Park Yuchun (JYJ) – How Much Love Do You Have In Your Wallet

I feel like you have to be in the right mood to properly enjoy a Korean ballad. More often than not, they adhere to a very specific (some would say schmaltzy) formula that fits best as the background to a k-drama. However, this particular ballad carries a bit of a different pedigree to it, given that it’s the solo debut of JYJ’s Park Yuchun.

Musically, Yuchun has been the least-active of his bandmates, and for his first mini-album he’s played it very safe with a sentimental song that opts for comfort rather than breaking new ground. How Much Love Do You Have In Your Wallet is very pretty. The backing track swells like you’d expect it to, Yuchun’s performance is emotive and heartfelt, and the lyrics are pensive and hopeful. But, at the end of the day, it’s very much a traditional k-ballad. How much it appeals to you is going to depend entirely on your feelings towards this particular sub-genre of kpop.

Personally, I like a good k-ballad, but if I’m going to go crazy for it, it needs to either spotlight a dynamic vocal performance or dramatic production flourishes. How Much Love Do You Have In Your Wallet has neither. There aren’t any quirks or surprises to elevate it to another level. It’s simply pleasant to listen to, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes pleasant is just fine. I could see myself playing this from time to time when I want to listen to something relaxing, but it doesn’t make me curious to hear the rest of Yuchun’s solo material.